International Dyslexia Conference, Nov 12-15 in San Diego, CA November 29, 2014

Last month, I attended the International Dyslexia Conference in San Diego with my son, Gus who has been dealing with the “gift of dyslexia” since he first was supposed to learn to read.  As he puts it,  if this is a gift then can I exchange it for something else.  Kidding aside, the frustrations that come with a reading disability in an age of high stakes testing and increasing pressure for student performance has been a rocky road to put it mildly.  I got into the profession of teaching because of this “gilt” after working in the field of public health for many years.

As I saw my own child struggle not only to read but to feel successful as a person, I became more and more involved at the social justice fight for education.  Startling, I found out that children just like Gus are 60-70% a part of the juvenile justice system. They start out full of hope as young children but then are not successful in school without the proper interventions or support and slowly begin acting out because they are not “good in school.’  Many children begin to feel worthless because they can not “do school.” Having nothing to do with abilities or intelligence, the school system without realizing the emotional damage it causes fails these children.

One of the most amazing talks I attended at the 2 day family conference was from Drake Duane, MD, PhD who showed results of from a long term study of newborns EEG’s and again of the same brains when they were 8 year olds.  The results were staggering.  As newborns there was brain activity that showed the presence of DYSLEXIA.  Epigenitics also seem to play a role

Maryann Wolf’s book, Proust and the Squid, opened a level of understanding for me that reading is not an evolutionary skill and  over 10% of people regardless of race have some sort of reading disability.  Interestingly enough, in cultures where less phonemes are in their alphabet, dyslexics seem to have an easier time of it.  “How do we learn to read and write?” This ambitious and provocative book offers an impassioned look at reading, its effect on our lives, and explains why it matters so greatly in a digital era.  While it is not evolutionary necessary that a brain can read, the placidity of the brain can learn to read.  Education and direct and targeted intervention actually changes the neural pathways of the brain.  It can aid in those important firing mechanisms that allow a dyslexic to access the ability to do so without the struggle that often results in kids giving up..

Click here to hear a excerpt of this wonderful book:  The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

My goal when I got into teaching was to encourage more flexibility for kids to show their level of success but I soon found out how difficult that is.  Studies show that there are superior visual spatial abilities for kids who are dyslexics.  The hypothesis that left-hemisphere deficits accompany right-hemisphere strengths. A recent joint study from the University of Wisconsin, Harvard Project Zero, Boston College, Brown University Medical School and Newgrange School and Educational Outreach Center.   Click the link to find the study but in the summary, it states that:  This finding suggests that dyslexia is associated with a particular type of visual-spatial talent—enhanced ability to process visual-spatial information globally (holistically) rather than locally (part by part).

There was so much to learn at this conference and I could fill pages with my favorites but I would be amiss if I did not share the practical presentation by Jamie Martin who taught a packed room in real time how to write a research paper using assistive technology.  Please CLICK HERE— to assess his electronic handout or scan one of the bar codes to go directly to what was accomplished with a little brainstorming by the crowd, some online tools and either free or low cost technology.  bit.ly/MSC-handout

LOVE the International Dyslexia Association  — do yourself a favor, and join.  $40 a year will keep you informed and a part of the solutions for those 60% of kids who need to be part of what we all want for our country.

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The Great Marshmallow Launch

Getting caught on blogging on Thanksgiving break.. have been a little busy so I am posting some of the highlights of my life long learning and getting paid to do it.  🙂

Last month, my sixth grade students students learned about the six simple machines.  On a walking field trip just around the school yard and the neighborhood, it became crystal clear that everyday objects were powered by the simple machines.

The lever became a point of discussion as we saw them everywhere so we decided to build one of the most famous of all medieval catapults but with a middle school twist.  Students learn about catapults, including the science and math concepts behind them, as they prepare for the associated activity in which they design, build and test their own catapults. They learn about force, accuracy, precision and angles.  Using only a few household items and limited building time, a competition  ensued on who could hurl a giant marshmallow the furthest.

In this “LESSON”  students analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.

Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object but most importantly

They had fun and they got to eat marshmallows.

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Understanding Mitosis, science needs to thank Henrietta Lacks November 6, 2014

The family of Henrietta Lacks is still in medical debt, but the contributions of this one poor black woman who allowed scientists to replicate cells outside the body are priceless.  Her cells have contributed to more medical break throughs, research and developments in the past 50 years, the number of her cells alive today would reach to the moon and back several times over.  Cell division and growth is called Mitosis and my students are learning about this complicated biology now. Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing industries.

In understanding the stages of the fascinating method in which cells replicate, repair and grow, the city of Atlanta and others celebrated the contributions of this unknown hero